Since their founding in 2010, Chicago Q Ensemble has been heard in concert throughout Chicago, including recitals at the Green Mill, Empty Bottle, Chopin Theatre, Northwestern University, DePaul University, Ganz Hall, Uncommon Ground Devon, and the Music Institute of Chicago. In addition to performing great classical works, the quartet is committed to interdisciplinary collaboration and the work of living composers. They have premiered works by Brian Baxter, Erica Malmquist, Matthew Pakulski, Kyle Vegter, Amy Wurtz, and award-winning jazz arranger Joe Clark. In 2011, they teamed up with composer and video artist Patrick Liddell (aka Ontologist) to create a multimedia concert piece. In 2012, they completed a residency at the Poetry Foundation which included six sold-out performances of Fjords, a major collaboration with shadow puppet company Manual Cinema, composer Kyle Vegter, and poet Zachary Schomburg.

The quartet was the 2011 fellowship ensemble at the Worcester Chamber Music Society summer festival, where their activities included a recital, educational workshop, pre-concert lecture, and a performance of the Mendelssohn Octet with Boston-based string quartet QX. In the summer of 2012, they made their debut at the Gesher Festival in St. Louis, performing works of Golijov and Shostakovich.

Their 2012-13 season includes collaborations with composers Amos Gillespie and Shawn Jaeger, as well as performances at the Chicago Cultural Center's lunchtime series and the Unfamiliar Music Series at the Empty Bottle. They will also participate in a Community Partnership Residency at High Concept Laboratories, where they will develop an intensive, monthlong neighborhood residency program.